Tag: Anton Ewald

Anton – Devil

“More effort was put into the video than into the actual track.”

Tim: You may remember Anton Ewald; he’s back after a while off, and has ditched his surname, because why not? Video note: nothing technically naughty, but it’s fairly graphic, and a tad disturbing, so I wouldn’t watch it at work, or with your parents in the room.

Tim: And that’s decent enough, more or less – I can’t shake the feeling, though, that more effort was put into the video than into the actual track.

Tom: Apart from the bit where it just appears to be him dancing with four men who’ve just left the office, yes.

Tim: The first time I played it I was too entranced by the video to pay much attention to the music; the second time and as I’m listening to it now… ehh.

Tom: You’re absolutely right: switching between the tab with the video and the tab where I’m writing this, I find I’m much more interested in the video than the song.

Tim: I’ll happily listen to it, sure (though I’m not that keen on whatever vocal effect they’ve put on him), but only really as a background track. Really, I’m just not as engrossed by it as I think the video thinks I should be. PRIORITIES PLEASE.

Saturday Reject: Anton Ewald – Begging

“Arguably, just as standard as all the others.”

Tim: We mentioned last week the prevalence of dance music in this year’s Melodifestivalen and how tracks had to be very good to succeed; this is one that succeeded, or at least got through to the final via Andra Chansen.

Tim: This track is, arguably, just as standard as all the others. It’s a good tune, sure, but there’s nothing really special about the track that elevates it musically above the rest, although the genre-shifted breakdown’s provides a bit of relief.

Tom: The synths in that chorus seem to be rather close to Taio Cruz’ “Dynamite“, too – although from a vote-winning perspective, that could be seen as a good thing.

Tim: What’s less of a good thing, votes-wise, is the somewhat shoddy vocal performance, and the backing that wouldn’t be there to help him in May.

Tom: Yep, the note as he came out of the middle eight was… well, let’s charitably say that it wasn’t really up to the Eurovision final’s exacting standards.

Tim: It does have two big things for it, though: a singer that a lot of girls and no small amount of guys would love to take home with them, and (most importantly) some proper atmosphere. There are big lights, and there is a lot of smoke, so anybody watching can immediately translate that to a heaving, sweaty nightclub full of smoke and lights and picture themselves dancing to it whilst drunk off their tits. Eddie Razaz, discussed last week, didn’t really have that same quality to it – it was a dance track being performed on stage, but only that – and I’m guessing that’s why this one got as far as it did.